AU593158B2

AU593158B2 - A mineral feeder for livestock

Info

Publication number: AU593158B2
Application number: AU82964/87A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Victor Ben Eggemeyer
Original assignee: George Sloss & Co Pty Ltd; Jobling Farming Co Pty Ltd; Niethe Consultancies Pty Ltd
Current assignee: George Sloss & Co Pty Ltd; Jobling Farming Co Pty Ltd; Niethe Consultancies Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1986-12-23
Filing date: 1987-12-22
Publication date: 1990-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2007-12-22
Also published as: AU8296487A

Description

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COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA The Patents Act 1965-1969 Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: VICTOR BEN EGGEMEYER Daandine Road, Macallister, Queensland, 4406 VICTOR BEN EGGEMEYER G.R. CULLEN COMPANY Dalgety House, 79 Eagle Street, BRISBANE. QLD. 4000

AUSTRALIA

COMPLETE PATENT SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED A MINERAL FEEDER FOR LIVESTOCK The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to us: i j. 1; 1- i I C11 Illl~ I 1 -2- THIS INVENTION relates to a mineral feeder for livestock.

Mineral supplements are necessary for feeding to I livestock such as cattle for the purposes of nutrition and supplementing the diet of the livestock. The mineral often included vitamins and trace elements.

Hitherto, a problem often faced by farmers was how to prevent minerals to be fed to livestock from becoming oo wet. Water is known to react adversely with certain trace :0 elements present in some minerals and in these circumstances o the mineral became not only unpalatable but poisonous.

1R i0 Mineral was often supplied in the form of large solid blocks. Farmers in turn left these blocks at selected locations on the land on which livestock were grazing. The 0 "a 15 blocks of mineral were however very susceptible to the weather. In the event of rain, the blocks often became •0 immersed in pools of water and were washed away as well as oo becoming contaminated as set out above.

a as To minimize the quantity of mineral wasted and the risk of poisoning many animals, farmers devised rather crude shelters to shield the mineral from the elements and in particular, the rain. Such shelters included the use of large hollow drums. One or more apertures were cut in the side wall of the drum to allow for an animal's head to reach in and consume the mineral contained therein.

A problem with such shelters was that they did not prevent rain from entering the shelter by way of the open apertures.

I -3- A further problem involved the entrapment of small animals inside the drum. Often kids or calves climbed inside the drums to shelter from the rain. The presence of animals inside the drums prevented other animals from gaining access to the mineral.

It is therefore an object of the present invention Sto provide a mineral feeder which may alleviate the i ,t disadvantages of the prior art.

The invention thus provides a mineral feeder rts 1$ 10 comprising: t t It a housing having at least one feed aperture; (ii) a base for rotatably supporting the housing; and (iii) directional means for rotating the housing to f selectively position said at least one feed aperture away from the direction of the wind.

i The housing may comprise a top wall and a r continuous side wall. When viewed in plan, the housing may i" E be substantially round, square or polygonal. The side wall t may be substantially vertically oriented in side view or tapered outwardly from top to bottom in side view.

Associated with the side wall there may be provided one or more feed apertures. There may also be provided a canopy for the feed aperture which suitably extends outwardly from the housing.

There also may be provided a container or receptacle for the mineral. In one embodiment the container L s r i ii i -4may form part of the base and in this embodiment the base may be trough-like in shape. In an alternative embodiment the container may form part of the housing as described in more detail hereinafter.

The base may comprise a base plate having any suitable shape such as round or rectangular in plan. The base plate may be substantially planar or flat.

Alternatively the base plate may have an upwardly directed concave or convex shape. The base plate may include io numerous small apertures for drainage purposes. The base S S plate may also be provided with a peripheral upstanding flange. There may also be provided a plurality of legs upon t, which the base plate may be supported above the ground.

t C r t,4 In regard to the container for the mineral preferably this forms part of the base and in regard to the 4 r above embodiment the base plate together with the peripheral 0 1 t flange may provide one form of suitable container.

In this embodiment the base plate may be provided with a centrally located spindle having bearing means associated therewith for rotatably supporting the housing.

The bearing means in one form may comprise a single ball bearing mounted atop the spindle. The housing may have a downwardly extending sleeve surrounding the spindle and attached thereto by appropriate locking means. The bearing I means may also include roller bearings if desired.

4 *9 <L 1 r I i In another appropriate arrangement the container as mentioned above may form part of the housing and to this end the housing may be rotatably supported on a spindle associated with a base frame. The location of engagement in this arrangement between housing and base may be within or adjacent the base whereas in the embodiment described above the location of engagement between the housing and base is ,a ;adjacent an upper part of the mineral feeder.

o *0 The directional means referred to above is suitably o10 one or more sail members associated with the housing.

Preferably there is provided a single sail member attached or integral with the top wall of the housing. The sail member suitably comprises a vertically oriented plate ii attached to the top wall of the housing.

Reference may now be made to a preferred embodiment t of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings S wherein: SFIG 1 represents a front elevation of a mineral feeder in accordance with the present invention.

FIG 2 represents a sectional front elevation of the mineral feeder as shown in FIG 1.

FIG 3 represents a side elevation of the mineral feeder as shown in FIG 1.

FIG 4 represents a plan elevation of the base of i! the mineral feeder as shown in FIG 1.

FIG 5 represents a plan elevation of the housing of the mineral feeder as shown in FIG 1.

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-6- FIG 6 represents a sectional front elevation of the centrally located spindle and associated base bearing means for mounting the housing to the base. A mineral feeder 6 appropriate for the feeding of mineral to livestock comprises a housing 7 mounted on a base 8. The housing 7 comprises a top wall 9 and a substantially continuous side wall 10. The top wall 9 is upwardly convex in shape as 4s"i shown in FIGS 1-2. The substantially continuous side wall t t 10 is tapered outwardly from top to bottom. A circular rib 0 20 is attached to the interior surface of the substantially r 46 S 4C continuous side wall 10 for reasons of strength. Associated with the housing 7 is feed aperture 11. Above feed aperture v 11 there extends outwardly from side wall 10 a canopy 12.

c The base 8 includes a circular base plate 13.

Associated with the outer edge of the base plate 13 there is S provided a continuous upstanding peripheral flange 14. The base plate 13 is supported above the ground by legs 15. The Fr base plate includes a centrally located spindle 16. A single ball bearing 17 is mounted atop the spindle 16. The top wall 9 of the housing 7 in turn rests on the ball bearing 17. The ball bearing 17 and a portion of the i spindle 16 are encased by a downwardly depending sleeve 18 affixed to the interior of the top wall 9 of housing 7. The described mounting means allows the housing 7 to rotate i relative to the base 8. The housing may be restrained from rotational movement by a thumbscrew 19 threadably located in an aperture associated with sleeve 18 such that in use the thumbscrew frictionally engages spindle 16.

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~o~rr~ i i I C, C 4 C 4 I 4 *4*ir 4 -7- A further sleeve 21 mounted on spindle 16 is free to rotate. Extending or radiating outwardly from sleeve 21 are arms 22. The free end of each arm is attached to the internal surface of the side wall 10 of the housing 7.

Sheets of mesh 23 are attached to the arms 22. The sheets of mesh 23 extend as high as the top wall 9 of the housing 7 and out as far as the side wall 10 of the housing 7.

There is also provided direction means 24 comprising a sail member 25 eccentrically mounted on top 10 wall 9 of housing 7.

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In use mineral may be contained in the base comprising base plate 13 and peripheral flange 14 of the mineral feeder 6. Animals may gain access to the mineral by S way of feed aperture 11 provided in the side wall 10 of housing 7. The housing 7 and canopy 12 provide protection I for the mineral from the rain. In the evet of there being

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both wind and rain, the feed aperture may be turned away L from the rain by the action of the wind upon the directional

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The vertical walls of mesh 23 prevent small animals from climbing inside the mineral feeder and thus preventing other animal's access to the mineral contained therein.

From the above discussion it may be appreciated that the mineral feeder of the invention prevents the mineral contained therein from becoming wet irrespective of the weather conditions. This therefore decreases considerably the amount of mineral previously wasted due to water damage and removes the risk of poisoning of livestock.

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Claims

2. A mineral feeder for livestockkwherein the base *includes a centrally located spindle having bearing means associated therewith for rotatably supporting the housing. S 3. A mineral feeder as claimed in claim 2 wherein the t bearing means includes a single ball bearing mounted atop the spindle.
4. A mineral feeder as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein the housing has a downwardly extending sleeve surrounding the spindle and attached thereto by locking means. A mineral feeder as claimed in any preceding claim Swherein the base is trough like in shape so as to constitute a feed receptacle or alternatively retain a feed receptacle for mineral.
6. A mineral feeder as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein the centrally located spindle includes an upwardly extending sleeve which is rotatable and which i.as attached thereto outwardly extending arms for supporting a i mesh sheet associated with each arm. i afe ecpal o lentieyrtanafe recpal I. U:: ii -9-
7. A mineral feeder as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the directional means includes a sail member mounted eccentrically or offset relative to the housing.
8. A mineral feeder as claimed in claim 7 wherein the sail member is vertically oriented and mounted to a top wall of the housing.
9. A mineral feeder as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein the sail member is supported by a horizontally oriented canopy which extends part way around the periphery of the housing. A mineral feeder substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 22nd day of December, 1987. VICTOR BEN EGGEMEYER By his Patent Attorneys G.R. CULLEN COMPANY I rI I i 4. 14 >41 NFW~~